200 amp main panel with 100 amp breaker

Why is this a biggie? The biggies are things the homeowner did or didn't do which caused the fire. If you are saying that insurance companies don't pay out on houses which are not up to current code-- then a large chunk of houses don't meet this requirement.

Reply to
Jonathan Grobe
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Heh! Not in my little town.

Call the power company and within six hours they'll be along remove the meter seal. When you're done with whatever you need to do, call the power company. Within 24 hours they'll be back to replace the seal.

No permit. No inspection. No nothing.

'Course I live in Houston; perhaps it's different in more progressive cities.
Reply to
HeyBub

Today all electric cable and a lot of equipment such as load centers have dates printed on them.

I don't know about other places, but in NY, insurance companies pay for dumb things that homeowners do. For example, many years ago I cut down a neighbors tree, believing it was not on his property. The insurance company paid for the law suit and settlement. another example, I did electrical work for a fire job for State Farm. No determination was made to the cause of the fire, but part of what burned was electrical wiring admittedly installed by the home owner

Reply to
RBM

John, you missed the point. It was inspected and found to be "a good job" by Hallerb

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Reply to
RBM

a customers husband was cutting down a tree, and dropped a 15KVA line onto a local 120 volt line, fried 16 grand of electronic devices.

insurance pid the entire bill but added a exclusion so it cant happen again......

Reply to
hallerb

My mistake, Roy. I guess I need to pay more attention. LOL

Reply to
John Grabowski

So every dog gets one free bite?

Reply to
CJT

If a court case ensues, do you swear to your answer to #2 and commit perjury?

Reply to
CJT

Of course you're right, unless they knew what was here before, they would have no way of knowing the change was done.

I guess my thought would be if there was fire or something that was even remotely connected to the electric (even if it wasn't the panel), they could use the non-inspected panel as an excuse to not pay. Years ago (before I was born), my parents lived in part of a duplex that burned down. The owner, who lived in the other half, did all of his own electric electric work without any permits or inspections. I don't know if the cause of the fire was specifically something he did, but but the insurance didn't pay anything because of the non-approved work. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but my parents pretty much lost all their things.

Besides, I didn't really have a choice anyway, since the city had to cut off the electric and provide the new meter. Also, in my case since it was only $30 out of a $500 project, I figure it was worth it since they included the new meter base and I have the paperwork to show it meets code if there are any questions later.

Mike O.

Reply to
Mike O.

se of the

if every DIY homeowner change had to be inspected, insurance would never pay a dime. few things really get inspected.....

the largest cause of housefires is kitchen events like grease fires, and smoking.

perhaps cooking and smoking in homes should be outlawed:)

Reply to
hallerb

Assuming the improper wiring was not the problem.

Reply to
Mike Dobony

May I suggest that your friend install the panel with a generator interlock kit with a one hundred ampere breaker installed as the generator breaker. Then until he decides to upgrade he can use the main as the generator breaker and the one hundred ampere breaker as the main. In this way he will have a generator interlock that allows her/him to use any circuit in the home that the generator he attaches to the main breaker can supply. This will give him the safety of a generator interlock to use in the event of a power outage and still have a main breaker sized to prevent overloading of the service conductors.

The reason that I make this suggestion is that changing out the main breaker in a factory assembled panel is not a job for the faint of heart or the inexperienced. If it is badly done the panel can experience a "Burn Down" which is the term of art used to describe destructive arcing.

Reply to
Tom Horne

Mike O. wrote:

The insurance carrier could only deny the claim if the no permit work was the cause of the loss. If that work were the cause of the loss however they would certainly deny the claim and would be judgment proof in doing so.

An insurance contract is a "contract of utmost good faith." Both parties to the contract are expected to scrupulously obey the law in any matter that might cause a loss or affect the ability to pay a claim. Doing electrical work without drawing an electrical permit in a jurisdiction were a permit is required is simply not worth the risk. To obtain a permit in many places you need only apply and pay the administrative cost and the inspection fee. Most electrical inspectors are decent folk who are just trying to do their job conscientiously. It seldom takes that much more to do the job right.

Reply to
Tom Horne

S. Barker wrote: > Some people would say that can happen, but in reality, it's bs. >

You had better hope that the adjuster is an incompetent then. I have worked in Fire & Rescue for thirty five years and I can assure you that some adjusters do know their business. You say it was like that when you got there but the panel was manufactured during the time you have been their insured. I've been deposed in two cases were the insurance company was denying a claim. Both insureds were financially ruined by the decision in the carriers favor. I will be the first to admit that the work in one case was so obviously slipshod that the matter was rather plain. In the other case however it was a sharp adjuster that spotted the galvanized piping used in a gas line. He knew that no gas fitter would ever waste galvanized piping on gas lines. The insurance adjuster demanded that the home owner provide the name of the gas fitting contractor so they could recover the loss from the gas piping contractor's liability insurer. When the homeowner could not provide the name of the firm that did the work the claim was successfully denied.

Reply to
Tom Horne

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